How to Restore your Wooden Garden Furniture

If you are lucky enough to have a garden large enough for some beautiful wooden furniture, then you will know the joy that it can bring. Sitting with friends at your garden table on a warm summers evening, sipping on an ice cold glass of white wine really can soothe the soul. The downside to this is that over the winter the moss, dirt and discolouration can attack your beautiful garden set, often leaving it looking tired and rather uninviting. There are a few different solutions to revive and restore your furniture, meaning that you can easily bring it beautifully back to life.

A Simple Scrub

If it is a basic winter’s worth of weather that has left some dirt and moss on your tables and chairs, then a simple scrub could do the trick. Take a bucket of soapy water, also a sponge and scourer combo and lightly scrub the wood; be sure to go with the grain when using the scourer side of the combo so as not to rough up the surface unnecessarily. Doing this will remove any surface grime and may prove enough to completely revitalise your wooden furniture.

A Light Sanding

If you have tried washing the wood and this has proved relatively fruitless, then a light sanding may be in order. This will remove the top layer of the wood and reveal a gorgeous fresh layer. Before you even pick up the sander, you need to check that the furniture is solid wood and isn’t veneered; if the wood does have a veneer, then sanding isn’t an option and soap and water should do the job nicely.

Before you sand, there is a little preparation to do to ensure that you get the best out of your hard work. Follow the instructions for washing the furniture and the let it dry, in the sun if possible, or as much as it can naturally if not. Then you can use a very subtle grit paper and gently work on the table and chairs. If you feel that sand paper is a little too much for your job, then a ball of wire wool will work well too.

Once you have removed the layer of damaged wood, then read on to discover how to protect your handy work.

A Lick Of Paint

After following either of the above steps, you need to protect and treat the wood to ensure that your efforts don’t go to waste. This is a simple process; firstly decide on whether you want a natural oil, varnished or painted look and then apply the coating as directed on the tin. An oil will protect the wood, but look completely natural, and varnish is similar to an oil, but comes in many different shades and finishes; The correct one depends solely on preference. Paint opens up a whole world of possibilities and once again is purely down to preference and the theme of your garden.

Just because a piece of garden furniture looks old, grey and owned by nature, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t salvageable and can’t be bought back to it’s former glory. It is more cost effective and economical to give some love to your old garden set, rather than pay for a new one. So, grab your bucket of soapy water and the oil or varnish of your choice; breathing new life into an old piece of furniture not only saves you money, but can also show you how much you can achieve if you apply a little sweat.